The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. This year's GDC was held on March 22nd-25th as scheduled. Today is the last day of GDC, so just look at what sessions are worth noting at GDC Today.
1. Build a Cloud-Based Game Using Amazon Web Services Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services
The AWS technology is implemented at server farms worldwide and maintained by the Amazon subsidiary. Fees are based on a combination of usage (known as a "Pay-as-you-go" model), hardware, operating system, software, or networking features chosen by the subscriber required availability, redundancy, security, and service options.
This session teaches about AWS GameKit, a toolkit that brings AWS services and solutions directly to your game engine. AWS GameKit includes a plugin for Unreal Engine, libraries for connecting to your game backend, samples, and documentation.
Discover ready-to-use solutions based on the AWS Well-Architected Framework that can deliver secure, high-performing, resilient, and efficient infrastructure for your game. With AWS GameKit, set up demo-ready game features in minutes, build a robust cloud-based game backend on AWS, and retain full ability to customize it.
2. FPP, Storytelling, and Player-as-an-Actor: Interactive Scenes in 'Cyberpunk 2077'
Cyberpunk 2077‘s Poster
Cyberpunk 2077 is an action role-playing video game developed and published by CD Projekt. The story takes place in Night City, an open world set in the Cyberpunk universe. Because of various problems with the game, it has caused controversy since its release.
This talk, presented by Cinematic Designers from CD PROJEKT RED, describes how the narrative systems of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt were re-imagined to support the real-time, branchable first-person-perspective (FPP) reality of Cyberpunk 2077.
It explains how gameplay and narrative were merged to create a seamless, player-driven experience to turn the player into another actor within the scene, providing tools for action-driven expression while delivering emotional, gut-punching stories. It also covers how this high-level concept was turned into a toolset for designers — and how that toolset was used to drive the look, feel, and direction of the entire interactive experience.
3. From Box Products to Live Service: How 'Destiny 2' Transformed Bungie
Destiny 2: Beyond Light
Destiny 2 had a rocky launch. Bungie tried to evolve the original Destiny formula into a more accessible box product and quickly lost much of the trust they had built with Destiny's most engaged players.
In the five years since Destiny 2 launched, Bungie has rethought and reimplemented almost every aspect of their Live business and seen dramatic, sustained success.
In this talk, Justin Truman will dive into many of the changes and learnings needed to convert a studio used to building traditional AAA box products into a more authentic, modern Live service organization. This talk will take an interdisciplinary approach to discuss the process, mindset, and cultural changes required as Bungie transformed its strategies to prioritization, organization, and decision-making.
4. The Soundscapes of Yara: Audio Innovation and Representation in 'Far Cry 6'
Far Cry 6's Poster
Far Cry 6 is a 2021 action-adventure first-person shooter game developed by Ubisoft Toronto and published by Ubisoft. IThe game is set on the fictional Caribbean island of Yara.
In this lecture, Eduardo Vaisman will present insight into how technical innovation in the brand and careful audio production choices were used to support the narrative of the game and proper Latino culture representation.
The lecture detailed the audio work to make Yara a believable Latino-Caribbean world, full of characters to support the game's guerilla fantasy. The artistic choices and technical execution of main audio features are presented in detail, from conception to pre-production.
5. Surveying Developer Communication and Collaboration Needs During a Global Pandemic
The Global Pandemic
This lecture is based on a university-industry partnership between York University and the International Game Developers Association. It focuses on the results of summer 2021 survey and interview data about how moving to remote work influenced team communication and collaboration ability of a wide array of game developers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, the lecture examines mental health reports before and during the pandemic, sentiment toward remote work, the effects of remote work on overall productivity, and how developers feel about various plans for returning to the office (fully remote, hybrid, full return). Despite noting a slight dip in mental health over the pandemic, most developers did not report a loss of productivity when switching to remote work even in light of finding new modes of communication/collaboration. Few seem keen on a full return to the physical office space.
6. Remastering a Classic: 'Diablo II: Resurrected'
Gameplay Footage of Diablo 2: Resurrected
Diablo II: Resurrected is an action role-playing video game co-developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Vicarious Visions and published by Blizzard Entertainment.
Vicarious Visions and Blizzard recently had the opportunity to remaster the genre-defining game Diablo II. What they chose to update was just as important as what they chose to keep the same. While the game has remained the same for 20+ years, the way people play and the world around games has changed entirely.
This talk focuses on the design aspect of how the team approached bringing the classic experience everyone remembers forward into the modern era. Other topics include controller support, Uncapped framerate, New QOL features, and many features we chose NOT to do (including the controversial Charm Bag).